Patidar to Lead MP After Success in IPL and Duleep Trophy

Patidar to Lead MP After Success in IPL and Duleep Trophy

Rajat Patidar has been handed a new role as the skipper of Madhya Pradesh's all-format captaincy for the domestic season. he replacing his teammate Shubham Sharma.

Rajat Patidar has taken over the all-format captaincy of Madhya Pradesh as the 2025-26 domestic season of the Ranji Trophy is all set to start from 15 October.

Patidar was chosen to take over for Shubham Sharma after discussions with the MP director of cricket, Chandrakant Pandit. It seems that the Madhya Pradesh Cricket Association wanted to give Patidar a bigger role because of his recent achievements.

The 32-year-old Patidar was first tested as captain during the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy last season after he discussed the opportunity with Pandit about the IPL with Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB). He got the role and proved his worth by leading MP to the final, where they lost to Mumbai.

Patidar has recently led RCB to their first IPL title and also took Central Zone to a championship win in the Duleep Trophy, marking their first win since 2014-15.

Last week, Patidar captained a strong Rest of India (RoI) team, which included well-known players like Ishan Kishan, Ruturaj Gaikwad, and Abhimanyu Easwaran, all of whom are state captains, at the Irani Cup in Nagpur. Unfortunately, they lost to Vidarbha by 93 runs.

During the 2024-25 Ranji Trophy season, he scored 529 runs in 11 innings with an average of 48.09, including one century and two half-centuries. This total was the second-highest for Madhya Pradesh that season, behind Shubham's impressive 943 runs at an average of 104.77.

Patidar has been performing really well this season, scoring two centuries and three half-centuries in seven innings. One of his centuries came in the Duleep Trophy final, helping Central Zone build a big first-innings lead and eventually win by six wickets against South Zone.

Madhya Pradesh will start its Ranji Trophy campaign with a home match against Punjab in Indore. The Ranji season will take place in two parts: the first part runs from October 15 to November 19, after which there will be a break for white-ball tournaments. The second part will be from January 22 to February 1 next year, with the knockout rounds scheduled between February 6 and 28.